Radio Health Journal
Each week, Radio Health Journal breaks down important news in medicine, science and technology with the help of world-renowned experts. Our three weekly segments will help guide you to a happier, healthier life – with some fun facts to share at dinner parties. Can magic mushrooms cure your depression? Have we outrun natural selection?
Hosted by Elizabeth Westfield, Greg Johnson and Maayan Voss de Bettancourt and produced by Kristen Farrah and Amirah Zaveri. New shows posted each Sunday by 5 a.m. EST. Subscribe, listen, and rate. If you’re looking for older episodes, you can find our entire segment catalog on our website radiohealthjournal.org. Also, check out the latest on Facebook and Instagram @radiohealthjournal and on X @RadioHealthJrnl.
701
Medical Notes: Week of December 13, 2020
A look at the top medical headlines for the week of December 13, 2020 including anti-Covid mandates have generally been seen as hurting business… but a new study shows that some of them, short of shutdowns, actually help the economy. And finally…...
1 min
702
From Now Until The Vaccine
New COVID-19 vaccines won’t be available for most people until spring, and the months until then may have a staggering cost in lives and illness. A noted infectious disease expert discusses probable time lines and events between now and the...
16 min
703
What’s Up With Hiccups?
Hiccups are annoying and uncomfortable, and doctors don’t know why we (and most other species) get them. An expert explains what we know about what hiccups are and why most home remedies actually work.
10 min
704
Nerve Growth Factors: New Hope For TBI’s, MS, ALS?
Unlike most cells in the human body, the central nervous system cannot repair itself. People who suffer brain or spinal cord injuries, or neurological disorders such as MS and ALS have few alternatives. A neurological researcher describes how he has...
12 min
705
Medical Notes: Week of December 6, 2020
A look at the top medical headlines for the week of December 6, 2020 including: Doctors are continuing to find new ways among old drugs to cut the damage done by COVID-19. Then, if you live out in the quiet countryside, you may be at lower risk of...
1 min
706
Should We Report “Bad Parents?”
Just about anyone can report a parent to a child abuse hotline. It’s meant to protect children, but often, parents are reported when no abuse or neglect exists in order to retaliate for a divorce or some other grievance. Some parents are reported...
16 min
707
Moms Released From Prison
Women are the fastest-growing prison population, but when they’re released, they face far more barriers to successful reintegration into society than men, especially if they have children. Experts and a former inmate running a new program for moms...
16 min
708
The Surprising Origins Of Chemotherapy In World...
Chemotherapy has saved millions of lives, but its origins date to the chemical warfare agent mustard gas. A secret shipment of the gas was released in Italy after the bombing of a US ship in World War II. An investigative reporter details how doctors...
8 min
709
Medical Notes: Week of November 29, 2020
A look at the top medical headlines for the week of November 29, 2020 including: Two COVID vaccines showing a better than 90-percent effectiveness rate now have the data to seek emergency approval from the FDA. Then, a study shows that signs of...
1 min
710
“Flat Head Syndrome”
Since the beginning of the “baby on back” movement to reduce sudden infant death syndrome, many more infants are developing misshapen heads with a flat spot in one place. An expert discusses whether this is serious, how it can be treated with a...
12 min
711
Medical Notes: Week of November 22, 2020
A look at the top medical headlines for the week of November 22, 2020 including: Scientists say they’ve come up with a simple skin test that can accurately diagnose Parkinson’s. Then, a new Covid-19 test could be coming that requires you to simply...
1 min
712
Where Can We Gather? The Zoom Thanksgiving
Getting together with family and friends over the holidays will be different this year due to COVID-19 precautions for families and governmental restrictions on restaurants and bars. The hospitality industry complains it’s unfairly targeted, but...
18 min
713
Music Therapy
Some people are finding relief from mental health issues through music therapy, a combination of psychotherapy and music-making. A noted music therapist describes what the practiced is and how it works.
12 min
714
Medical Notes: Week of November 15, 2020
A look at the top medical headlines for the week of November 15, 2020 including: A study finds that some occupations may be more at risk of getting seriously ill. Then, a new study shows that men in jobs with hard physical work have a 55 percent...
1 min
715
The Effects of 2020 Stress
2020 has produced an ongoing barrage of stressful events, and psychologists say the months of strain have started to show in both physical and mental breakdowns among increasing numbers of people. Three mental health professionals discuss the signs...
17 min
716
Time Blindness
Someone who is always late for everything and never finishes any project on time is often labeled as irresponsible, lazy, or purposely insulting. But they may be suffering from a brain abnormality called time blindness that’s often a part of ADHD,...
18 min
717
How Deep Are The Differences Of Left Handers?
Handedness is a central part of a person’s identity. Left-handers are often seen as somehow different than the rest of us, and over history they’ve been stereotyped as more quirky, intelligent, and sinister than righties. Science shows that some...
14 min
718
Medical Notes: Week of November 8, 2020
A look at the top medical headlines for the week of November 8, 2020 including: One of the biggest questions about the coronavirus is whether people who are infected are immune from reinfection… and if so, for how long. Then, wildfires this year...
1 min
719
Medical Notes: Week of November 1, 2020
A look at the top medical headlines for the week of November 1, 2020 including: The official death toll in the United States from COVID-19 is around 230,000. But a new study shows that the real number could actually be much higher. Then, Covid’s...
1 min
720
Memory Care Farm Animals: Helpful Menageries
Some nursing homes with a large number of patients with dementia have found that farm animals on-site and even in rooms can be helpful in raising spirits and reducing the need for medications. A therapist and program director at one such nursing home...
15 min
721
Black Lung Disease: Still All Too Present
Black lung disease among coal miners is often thought of as a relic of the past, thanks to environmental laws. The disease is completely preventable, but a distinguished reporter and author has still found plenty of it among today’s miners. He...
14 min
722
The Many Kinds of Grief
Grief can come from the loss of anything important to us—a loved one, a job, a home, a status in the community. Today many people are suffering from unresolved grief, since there are no rituals to ease these forms of grief and prohibitions against...
14 min
723
Planetary Health
The new scientific field of planetary health seeks to analyze how humans are influencing the planet, which in turn rebounds to affect humans. The field encompasses more than environmental science and ecology, and helps to explain pandemics and other...
18 min
724
Medical Notes: Week of October 25, 2020
A look at the top medical headlines for the week of October 25, 2020 including: A new study shows our diets are suffering as a result of stress from Coronavirus. Then, a study finds that when teachers are having a bad day, students pick up on it and...
1 min
725
Medical Notes: Week of October 18, 2020
A look at the top medical headlines for the week of October 18, 2020 including: The leaders of two of the nation’s leading science advisory groups are warning about what they call “Alarming political interference” in the government’s response...
1 min